On Tuesday, June 21, 2022, the Global Fund for Widows will convene a public event entitled, "Ending the World's Silence on Widows: Opportunities for Leadership Around the World." By bringing together gender experts across the US Government (USG), foreign governments, and civil society, this event will encourage policymakers and practitioners alike to reflect on the ways in which widows are present or could be incorporated in their own work, and provide recommendations on ways in which widowhood can be mainstreamed across US foreign policy and development programming going forward.

This data, however, is nearly a decade old and does not take into account the increase in armed conflict, nor the global health challenges of the Ebola epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. UN leadership, including the Secretary-General and UN Women, have repeatedly called for quality disaggregated data to include sex and marital status, a call echoed in the first-ever international piece of legislation, UN General Assembly Resolution 76/252. Widowed women constitute one of the most disadvantaged and impoverished demographics in the world , and widowhood persists as one of the most neglected gender and human rights issues, which are currently not included in Department of State human rights reports. This collective lack of data and substantive research prevents the various departments of the US Government from adequately addressing the unique needs and challenges widows face across its foreign policy aim and objectives and through USAID programs.

The event will be moderated by Ms. Zain Asher (Anchor, CNN) and feature a panel including the Honorable Ms. Baindu Dassama, Ms. Callista Mutharika, Former First Lady of Malawi, Karen Flower, Ms. Heather Ibrahim-Leathers, and guest Mr. Vikas Khanna. H.E. Hilda Suka-Mafudze, AU Ambassador to the UN will deliver opening remarks.

This panel will engage discussion to explore practical next steps across US foreign policy and development programming to recognize and integrate the unique needs and experiences of widows, and hear from gender and subject matter experts who are already leading advocacy and development programming for widows.